The album “Ears of the People: Ekonting Songs from Senegal and Gambia” is the first collection of West African ekonting music and serves as a testament to the longevity of music and tradition despite centuries of brutal history. It highlights the living traditions in West Africa and the depth of meaning and beauty that can be found in a simple, handmade instrument. Although it is widely recognized today that the American banjo originated from Africa and should be considered an African instrument, for many years the exact African instrument that inspired the banjo was unclear. Scholars including Pete Seeger pointed to instruments such as the Wolof xalam or the Mandinka ngoni, but it was the work of pioneering Gambian ethnomusicologist Daniel Laemou-Ahuma Jatta that identified the Senegalese and Gambian ekonting as a likely source. Jatta was influenced by his father who would play the three-stringed, gourd instrument in the evenings after work, which was popular among the Jola people.

What’s remarkable about this recording is just how alive and vital the ekonting’s music is today in Senegal and Gambia. The songs on this album, taken from recordings in Senegal made by ethnomusicologist Scott Linford of nine ekonting players, are full of life.

This song, “Mamba Sambou” is typical of wrestling songs: short and lively, with pithy lyrics using vocables (such as oh, ay, and ee) that make it easy for the whole crowd to join in. 

The song topics are as varied as the people themselves and range from pleas for friendship and others are about the effects of war and regional violence, including a harrowing account of a roadside bombing. Songs tackle subjects like premature death of a husband, dream girls, latchkey kids, men’s initiation ceremonies and more.